Railway mail-transfer device



C. HARTMANN.

RAILWAY MAIL TRANSFER DEVICE.

. APPUCAT'ION FlLED JAN-6.1920.

1,381,461 4 Patented June 14, 1921 2 SHEETS-SHEEI l.

C. HARTMANN.

RAILWAY MAIL TRANSFER DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN 6 1920 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented June 14, 1921..

s. 3 Z "/4 agang K UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARL HARTMANN, OF MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK, 'ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN H. FAUST, 0F MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK.

RAILWAY MAIL-TRANSFER DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 14:, 1921.

Application filed January 6, 1920. Serial No. 349,667.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL HARTMANN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Vernon, in the county of lVestchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Mail-Transfer Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to parcel transfer devices, and with respect to its more specific features to devices for the transfer of mail to and from moving trains and the like.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of a practical transfer device wherewith the receipt by and delivery of mail to a train may be effected expeditiously and eificiently.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device of the character referred to of simple, compact and inexpensive construction; one wherewith objectionable wear on the mail bags and breakage of mail matter are largely avoided; one which lessens the liability of loss of mail matterand one which is convenient and simple in operation.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, and wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a mail car and road bed equipped with the apparatus above referred to i Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontal section on the line aa, Fig. 1, the mail pouches being removed;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view ofthe parcel conveyer, showing the same pro ecting from the car.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates the outside of a car body, 2 the op n door of the car,and 3 a stationary post projecting upwardly from the road bed within a short distance from the side of the car 1.

In the present embodiment of the invention, the post 3 supports a parcel-holding device for the delivery to and reception of parcels from the parcel-transfer device carried by the car. As illustrated, the parcelholding device includes two forks, indicated by the numerals 4t and 5, these forks being of sufiicient length to support one or more mail bags or other parcels, and opening or facing in opposite directions, so that one or more mail pouches may be readily drawn from one fork as the train moves past the same, and another mail pouch may be readily introduced or delivered to the other fork from the moving train. As illustrated in Fig. l, the pouch 6 is to be taken on the train. and consequently the fork 5 opens to the right, whereas the fork 4: which is to receive the pouch opens or faces to the left, the train being supposed to be moving in the direction indicated by the arrow. Also one of the forks, as 5, is disposed in a different horizontal plane from the other fork 4, and the parcel conveyor on the car isdisposed to pass in a horizontal plane between the forks 4 and 5.

As illustraed, the parcel conveyor includes two pairs of parcel-supporting jaws.

These jaws are clearly shown in Fig. 3, one pair being designated by the numerals 8 and 9 and another pair by the numerals 10 and 11. Each pair of jaws is adapted to open and close and, in the present embodiment, the jaws of each pair are pivoted at 12 to a housing 13 which may be adjustably supported u on an extension 1-1 of a bracket 15 movab yconnected to the car body. Like the forks 4 and 5, the pairs of jaws referred to open, or point, in opposite directions for the ready cooperation with the pouch in one holding fork, to seize such pouch and to more readily deposit the other pouch in the other fork and recede from the same. In the construction illustrated in Fig. 2 it will be seen that the jaws 8 and 9 are open and point to the left, and that the jaws 10 and 11 are closed and point to the right. When a soft parcel is operated upon, as, for instance, a mail pouch, the pg.

operative supporting devices ofeach pair of jaws mesh with each other. In the present embodiment the meshing eifect is obtained by longitudinally channeling the supporting face of the aw 9 as indicated at 16 and forming a counterpart projection 1'? on the jaw 8. Similarly the jaws 10 and 11 are provided with the meshing feature just mentioned.

As the train or car passes the post 3, it is intendedto deliver the pouch 6 to the conveyer on the car and to discharge the pouch 7 from the conveyer to the fork 1. In the illustrated embodiment this iseffected by the two pairs of jaws, the advance pair of Whiclnbeing open, closes upon the pouch 6 and simultaneously the rear pair, being shut, opens after the pouch contained therein has been delivered to the fork t. Thus in the present embodiment, one pair of jaws is closed simultaneously with the opening of the other pair, and to effect this a trip or trip lever 18 and certain operative connections are provided. The trip lever 18 is pivoted or fulcrumed to the housing or bracket, referred to, at the point 19 and has gear teeth 20 and 21 which mesh with simi lar teeth on one jaw of each pair of jaws. Similarly, the jaws of each pair of jaws are geared together as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2. r The housing 13 is sufficiently deep to accommodate'a proper thickness of the jaws and trip lever, and the trip lever projects laterally through a slot 22 in the housing and is provided with a tapered or double beveled end 23. From the construction described, it will be understood that movement of the trip lever on its pivot'19 in one direction will close one pair of jaws and open the other, movement of the trip leverin the opposite direction opening the closed pair and closing the other pair.

In order that the pairs of jaws shall be prevented from accidental opening, devices are employed to automatically lock them in closed relation. In the present embodiment pivoted jaw-locking dogs 24land 25 are employed, one for each pair of parcel-supporting jaws. Each jaw-locking dog is pivoted to the housing as indicated at 26, and is connected to the trip lever 18 by link 27. The operative faces of the jaw-locking dogs are cam shaped so as to closely follow the outer face of the parcel-supporting j aws' 9 and 11 in their opening or closing movements. When one pair of jaws is closed, as, for in stance, the jaws 10 and 11, Fig. 2, the trip lever 18 will have moved the jaw-locking dog 2% so that it opposes any opening move 'ment ofthe jaw 11. At this time the jawlocking dog 25 has been positively moved by the link 27. to the position indicated in Fig. 2, which comports with the open position of the jaw 9. c

From the foregoing description. it will be forks at and 5.

seen that a parcel conveyer is provided which embodies the two pairs of jaws adapted to be operated, as described, upon movement. of the trip lever 18. The exigencies of operation of theparcel conveyer more often than not render it convenient to load the conveyer while it is in the car; then move it out of the car into transfer position and subsequently draw it into the car for discharge of a received parcel, or pouch. In the present embodiment the parcel conveyer, through the instrumentality of its bracket 15, is pivoted at to the vertical wall of the car body, the pivot pin 30 being capable of ready removal, if desired, in order that the conveyer may be located upon the opposite side of the car where it would be similarly supported. Surrounding the pivot 30 is a coil spring 31 having one end 32 fixed or pressing against the wall of the year, or the bracket piece 33, to which the bracket 15 is directly pivoted, and another end bearing against the bracket 15, the spring being biased or tensioned so that it tends to rotate, or swing, the parcel conveyer on its pivotal axis 30 out of the car into transfer position, in alinement with the Obviously, the housing 13 may be adjusted on the stem let to secure an exact desired lateral distance from the car. 11 handle 35 on the bracket 15 may be ma nipulated to swing the parcel conveyer into the car, and when the conveyer, shall have entered the car the handle 35 may pass beneath a check spring 36 so that the parcel carrier is prevented from movement under the influence of the spring 31. The check spring 36 may be raised by hand, whereupon the parcel carrier will be immediately swung into transfer position by the spring 31.

The post 3 carries a trip operating memher which, in the illustrated embodiment, is a beveled lug, or abutment, 37 disposed at such a distance from the side of the car that it will. be in the path-of the beveled end of the trip lever 18. In this wise the trip lever 18 is forced to the right b'y the trip operating member 37, as viewed in Fig. 2, thus positively closing the jaws 8 and 9 and simultaneously positively opening the jaws 10 and 1].. in consequence the parcel conveyer receives more or less of a shock or jar, and in order to cushion such shock, the parcel conveyer housing is provided with a short tubular piece 38 containing a spring 39 against which presses a plunger 40, the head Q1 of which plunger cooperates with an abutment 1-2 on the car body." Thus, when the trip lever 18 has been forced to the right (Fig. 2), consequent movement of the housing and the tube 38 in the same direction. effects compression of thespring 89. When the trip lever 18 has passed the member 3? the spring 39 reacts and moves the parcel conveyer out of transfer position,

Car

and causes it to swing back into the car,

where it will be caught by the check spring 36. Thus both the outward movement to transfer position and the inward movement to manipulative position are each automatically accomplished, and the means for effecting the inward movement is in reality energized by the movement of the car; that is to say, the spring 39 receives its compression by reason of the fact thatthe car causes the trip lever 18 to wipe-past the trip operating member 37.

The operation of the device will be largely obvious from the foregoing, but may be briefly described as follows :A mail pouch is placed in the fork (Fig. 1). It may be readily slid into this-fork and will" rest fairly loosely therein, the upper part of 'mail pouches being of sufiicient thickness to prevent dropping from the-fork. The railway post ofiice clerk inserts a pouch in the rear pair of jaws of the conveyer and operates the trip lever 18 to close the jaws upon such pouch. The aws will firmly grip the pouch, due to the meshing effect thereof, as before explained. Thereupon the check 36 is lifted, and the spring 31 will automatically swing the conveyer and the pouch carried thereby out of the car and into transfer position, which position is generally illustrated in perspective in Fig. 3. This having been accomplished, the relative position of the elements of the device will be substantially as illustrated in Fig. l, with the pouch in the rear pair of jaws relativeto the direction of the train. The forward pair of jaws will be open. The pouch 7 will be drawn into supporting position in the fork 4 at about the same time that the forward pair of jaws embrace the pouch 6. At substantially such instant the trip lever 18 will be moved by the trip operating member, or stationary abutment 37, to close the front pair of jaws toward parallel position upon the pouch 6 and move the rear pair of jaws away from parallel position to release the pouch 7. In this way the pouch 7 will be left at the station, hanging in the fork 4,

and the pouch 6 will be drawn from the fork and eventually automatically swung into the door of the car by the energization or the spring 39.

Should the train be moving in the opposite direction, the pivot pin may be removed and the conveyer transferred to the opposite side of the car, where it will operate in a similar manner in conjunction with parcel holders on that side of the roadbed.

Thus by the above described construction are accomplished, among others, the objects hereinbefore referred to.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted asillust-rative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of langauge might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a parcel transfer device, in combination, a pair of parcel-supporting jaws pivotally mounted to open and close, a. separate pair of parcel-supporting jaws pivotally mounted adjacent said first mentioned jaws to open and close, and a trip lever having separate operative connections with the members of each pair.

2. In a parcel transfer device, in combination, a pair of parcelsupporting jaws mounted to open and close, a second pair of parcel-supporting jaws mounted separately from said first mentioned jaws to open and close, meansfor opening one pair of jaws and simultaneously closing the other iair,

and a locking member operatively connected with said means and engaging one of said jaws to secure the same in position.

3. In a parcel transfer device, in combination, a pair of parcel-supporting jaws mounted to open and close, a second pair of parcel-supporting jaws mounted separately from said first mentioned jaws to open and close, means for opening one pair of jaws and simultaneously closing the other pair, a support for said jaws adapted to move the same into operative or inoperative position, and means carried by said support adapted to urge the same into inoperative position.

4. In a parcel transfer device, in combination, two pairs of supporting jaws, a trip member separately connected to said pairs for moving the members of one pair toward parallelism while simultaneously moving the members of the other pair away from parallelism.

In a parcel transfer device, in combination, tw pairs of parcel-supporting pivoted jaws pointing in opposite directions, the jaws of each pair being geared together, a trip lever geared with a jaw of each of said pairs, pivoted jaw-locking dogs, one for each pair of jaws, and connections whereby said dogs are operated by said trip lever 6. In a parcel transfer device, in combination, two pairs of parcel-supporting pivoted jaws pointing in opposite directions, the jaws of each pair being geared together, a trip lever geared with av jaw of each of said pairs, pivoted jaw-locking dogs, one for each lOO dogs'are operated by said trip lever, the cooperative faces of the jaws of each pair adapted to mesh with each other.

7. In a parcel transfer device, in combina tion, two pairs of supporting jaws mounted in opposed relationship, a swinging arm supporting said pairs of jaws, operating means adapted to move the members of one of said pairs toward parallelism while simultaneously moving the members of the other pair away from parallelism, and means normally biased tourge said arm to parcel transferring position.

8. In a parcel transfer device, in combina tion, two pairs of supporting jaws mounted in opposed relationship, a swinging arm sup porting said pairs of jaws, operating means adapted to move the members of one of said pairs toward parallelism while simultaneously moving the members of the other pair away from parallelism, means normally biased to urge said arm to parcel transferring position, and means energized by a transfer operation for overcoming said bias.

9. In a parcel transfer device, in combination, a movable arm, parcel-carrying means mounted on said arm, means normally biased to urge said arm to parcel transferring p0- sition, and a member resiliently mounted on said arm and adapted at times to over come said bias. I

10. In a parcel transfer device, in combination, a movable arm, parcel-carrying means mounted on said arm, means normally biased to urge said arm to parcel transferring position, and resilient means mounted on said arm and adapted to be energized by a transfer operation to overcome said bias. 11. In a:parcel transfer device, in combi nation, a movable arm, parcel-carrying means mounted on said arm, meansnormally biased to urge said arm to parcel transferring position, means energized by a transfer operation for moving said arm to inoperative position against said bias, and means for automatically locking said arm in inoperative position.

12. In a parcel transfer device, in combination, a movable arm mounted on a carrier, oppositely mounted jaws carried by said arm means normally biased to urge said arm to parcel transferring position, and means to overcome said bias upon parcel transfer.

13. In a parcel transfer device, in combi nation, a movable arm mounted on a carrier,

oppositely mounted jaws carried by said arm, means normally biased to urge said arm to parcel transferring position, means to overcome said bias upon parcel transfer and a trip lever operatively connected to said jaws.

14. In a parcel transfer device, in combination, a pair of cooperating jaws, means for operating said jaws, and a locking dog operatively associated with said means and adapted to be moved thereby into locking engagement with one of said jaws.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in the. presence of two witnesses.

CAR-L HARTMANN.

Witnesses H. M. SEAMANS, J. W. ANDERSON. 

